Ok, two parts kits are in: a '28 and an M1A1. First the M1A1. Overall, it's used and worn, but not trashed. The finish on some parts is nearly gone, but the finish on others is quite good. There is very little pitting anywhere. The frame is in good condition as are the internals. The barrel rifling is surprisingly bright and crisp, given that the finish on the outside is very worn with a bit of pitting. The wood has your typical dings, but nothing major. I was surprised to see that the forearm was in good condition, since almost every other M1A1 parts kit I've seen or had has had the forearm in very poor shape. An interesting note, the barrel/forearm assembly had a barrel band installed on it. I don't know what the finish of it originally was, but it was mostly worn off.

The '28 kit... Sadly, I'd say some of the parts were from cut up new guns. The wood was very good. The stock was an early "no-bolt" style and not cracked. The barrel was like new, finned with a compensator. No rear section of receiver was included, but a Lyman L site was. The frame was like new with a few marks. It had a smooth paddle safety and selector. The bolt was a bright bolt with a smooth knobbed actuator. It is a very nice kit. Too bad they cost a grand. I'll try to get some pictures later this week.

Mike,Thanks for the update on the IMA M1A1 kits. Too bad they're not in as good of shape as the '28 kits but it still sounds like they're in better shape than some of the kits I've seen lately. Regards

I also received a '28 kit from IMA. It is just as Mike has desribed, including the early no bolt stock. All of the components look very good with little or no wear. He's right... the worst part is that mine also looks like it was cut up from a new gun.

Yeah, I was kind of hoping for the same quality in the M1A1s as the '28s. But on the bright side, they are better than what I had in the past from SARCO or FAC. You can come across some real nice ones periodically on the boards or ebay, but you'll pay dearly for them. I put in an order for a few more kits and an extra Lyman adjustable. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky with one of them.

Well you guys stirred my curiosity...........Just ordered 2 28 kits and 2 Lyman sights. I will have to let you know how they look. I am hoping for a no-bolt butt stock, knurled actuator, bright bolt.......Wishful thinking!!!

I received my I.M.A. '28 complete trigger frame, barrel w/comp,fore end, grip mount, attached to front part of receiver(neatly cut thru--thank you politicians and bureaucrats) and Lyman adj. sight, yesterday. It was exactly one week from the time I called in the order. All parts appear to be in unissued condition--a few tiny lines, very slight marring of one or two letters on the roll marking on the comp. The trigger frame appears to be, if not parkerized, then at least a more gray shade of black oxide than the magazine catch, for instance. I applied Clenzoil and rubbed with paper towel, several times to try to get all the remaining Cosmoline(?) off, to get a true picture of the color of the finish, but can still see more traces of brown in the machining lines.

I just received my '28 parts kit, and it is much the same as the others described in this thread. The trigger frame is AO (FULL AUTO on one line), but the serial number has been ground off and replaced with another number like that shown on a trigger frame in an earlier thread. The AO trigger frame and AO grip mount make me believe that this was an AO gun orginally, with many of the other parts being the usual Savage/Stevens. The stock is no-crossbolt, the bolt is bright (Savage), and the actuator is smooth. All is original black oxide finish.

There were two interesting items with my kit. First, the safety is checkered, as was done with some of the early safeties. However, it also has the hole in it like the Colt safeties. It is of Savage manufacture, not Colt. I know this modification is often made to a smooth WWII safety at the request of a current owner (I understand PK does a wonderful job of this), but I would not have expected these parts kits to have an owner-modified part. Any opinions on the this??

The second item is a stamp on the left side of the receiver nose (I sure do wish these kits included the back part of the receiver). It is a circle with a line through the middle. In the top semi-circle is the number 38. In the bottom semi-circle is what looks like a monogram with the letters C J K, the middle letter J being larger like a typical monogram. Has anyone seen this kind of stamp before?

A grand is a lot of money to be sure, but considering what these parts cost individually, the cost doesn't seem unreasonable.

Interests:Full time gunsmith who loves Thompsons, 35+ years experience.

Posted 13 November 2003 - 03:25 PM

The early Savage safeties were just like the Colts; positive knurling and hole. Later they went to negative knurling and hole (the part was spun around the hole to knurl). I think I recall seeing one with a negative stamped “knurl” with no hole, not sure on that one however.